A JAPANESE man who set a world record by wolfing down 53 hot dogs in 12 minutes has suffered a severe jaw injury due to his rigorous training, making his next title uncertain.

Takeru 'Tsunami' said he can only open his mouth to make a gap the size of a fingertip after being diagnosed with jaw arthritis.

In an entry on his blog entitled Occupational Hazard, Kobayashi said: "My jaw refused to fight any more."

The injury occurred only a week after the slender 29-year-old started training to win his sixth straight title at the annual July 4 Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating contest on New York's Coney Island.

"I feel ashamed that I couldn't notice the alarm bells set off by my own body," he said. "But with the goal to win another title with a new record, I couldn't stop my training so close to the competition.

What to make of this? First off, is it accurate? (I can't find his blog.)

And if true, is it an attempt to lower expectations? Or is he so intimidated by Chestnut's recent performance that he's chickening out?

We can only hope that Kobayashi somehow recovers by July 4, so that we can see a fair rematch between two great competitors.

Here's a moving fan tribute to the champ. Have a tissue handy for the tears:

Update: Here's the blog (in Japanese, of course). Google gives me this translation for the most recent post:

Some days ago, my jaw seceded the front.

In the scream of the body, the ear you have been ashamed by your being able to tilt.